Amidst a global pandemic, Le Moyne has made great strides in how to best combat the safety and public health concerns that reopening the school has posed not only for those on The Heights, but for the greater Syracuse community. With firm restrictions, regular testing, and many classes tackling a hybrid course delivery model, administration remains on the cautious side. This model has been effective, yet seemingly every day, new things continue to threaten the health of our student body.

The Student Government Association (SGA) has expressed concern regarding students’ mental health. Pushing for selective visitation in residence halls was successful for our organization, and for the student body. For many of these students, they were living in either a double or single dorm room and had very limited interaction with peers due to the policies put in place before. We understand that this is still not the perfect solution and we are continuing to discuss and evaluate with administration the likelihood and advantages of opening these policies to upperclassmen. We hope to see progress made with this soon, but the gravity of this virus remains. We have had positive results with nearly each set of pool testing, and watching nearby colleges and universities experience outbreaks, Le Moyne is wary to expose ourselves to the same outcome. Despite this, the weather is getting colder and darkness meets us sooner each day. Seasonal depression is among us and we must continue to find alternatives to help encourage students to remain on campus to not expose ourselves to any new risks for the successful completion of the semester and the greater wellbeing of our students.

In addition to continuing these conversations, SGA has also opened a platform in which students can more openly address their COVID-related concerns. After pushing for student advocacy on COVID committees, there are now four student representatives in meetings both on Mondays and Thursdays, an SGA member and an RA for each. We want to make sure we are accurately articulating student concerns each week, so we have created a Google Form that went out to the student body in an email. You can also find the link on our social media. This is a chance for you to ask questions, express your concerns, and help us further determine the best way to manage the virus, while also ensuring you have a positive experience during your time at Le Moyne.

In other news, our members have been busy doing other things as well. Fiona Schaeffer and Sam Cesario, Directors of Club Development and Finance, recently finished putting together club budgets and helping to establish executive boards. Molly Coolican, our Academic Affairs chair, has been sitting in on committee meetings with staff to assess our curriculum and academic policies. Luke Giunta, Chair of Environmental Sustainability, is working with Sodexo to determine a more eco-friendly solution to the disposable containers being used in the café. These are just a few agenda items, but stay tuned for our new email bulletin which will be coming out shortly!